Doctor? Sexual abuser? Or both.

After undergoing ovarian surgery at an Oak Brook medical center in 2008, a Lemont woman was reviewing her bill and came across an unfamiliar doctor's name.

When she checked him on Google, the woman was shocked to see that the doctor who treated her was also on the Illinois registry of sex offenders, the result of being convicted in 2000 of sexually abusing a patient.

"May I know why a convicted sexual offender has not been disciplined by your department?" the woman wrote to the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.

Answer: Illinois doctors convicted of sex crimes sometimes escape discipline -- even when their victims are patients. And when they are punished, the discipline can be as mild as a short suspension of the doctor's license, records show.

A Tribune review uncovered 16 sex offenders who have held state medical licenses within the past 15 years. Not one had his license permanently revoked following his conviction. Even those who were the most severely sanctioned are allowed to reapply to practice. The Lemont woman's doctor, Nercy Jafari, was never punished by the disciplinary agency in any way, records show.

The findings prompted outrage from victims and their families who say the department is failing to protect the public from dangerous doctors. Some critics insist a criminal sex offense should be sufficient cause to revoke a doctor's license forever.

"How in God's name can someone convicted of sexual abuse by a jury of his peers be allowed to continue practicing medicine?" said the father of Jafari's victim, who was abused while undergoing a cosmetic hair-removal surgery in Downers Grove, criminal records show.

When the Tribune recently spotlighted the case of Bruce Smith, a Chicago-area gynecologist who continued to practice in spite of multiple allegations of rape and sexual misconduct, regulators said it was difficult to discipline doctors who had not been convicted in criminal court.

But even when there are convictions -- as in each of the 16 criminal cases examined by the Tribune -- the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation provided a window for the doctors to resume practicing. In many cases, the doctor's license was "indefinitely suspended" or revoked, meaning he could reapply at any time.

The Tribune review found:

* The department began disciplinary proceedings against Jafari in 2001 after his criminal conviction, but it later closed the case without taking action. The surgeon has continued to practice freely in the Chicago area.

* The department suspended the license of a Downers Grove doctor in 2002 for a minimum of three years after he was convicted of sexual abuse and battery of a patient. In 2008, the department reinstated the license, and he resumed practicing.

* In 2007, the department suspended the license of a McHenry County chiropractor for a minimum of two years after he was convicted of sexually abusing a child. The doctor has been eligible to reapply for his license since December.

* The department suspended the license of a Buffalo Grove family physician for a minimum of five years after he pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography and distribution of a controlled substance. Originally charged with criminal sexual assault, he can reapply for his license in 2013.

* The department suspended the license of a Kane County doctor for a minimum of four years after he pleaded guilty in 2008 to criminal sexual abuse of two young girls. He told the Tribune that he may reapply for his license in 2012.

The top officials in charge of regulating doctors -- Donald Seasock, director of the department's division of professional regulation, and Dr. Edward Rose, chair of its medical disciplinary board -- declined interview requests.

Sue Hofer, a department spokeswoman, declined to answer questions about specific cases, including why Jafari was never sanctioned. She said doctors are disciplined based on the evidence and sentences imposed by the criminal court system.

The Illinois Medical Practice Act, Hofer said, does not allow the department to permanently revoke a medical license unless a doctor has been twice convicted of felonies involving controlled substances or public aid offenses.

Under the law, other types of felony convictions -- such as sex crimes -- "may" be grounds for lesser disciplinary action, and the consequences of misdemeanor convictions are not mentioned.

Minnesota is a rare state that bars felony sex offenders from serving as doctors. State legislators passed the law in 1995 in response to the disclosure that a repeat sex offender was continuing to practice.

"The legislature determined it shouldn't be discretionary -- that we needed something in place that required the board to take more serious action in cases of convictions involving sexual misconduct," said Ruth Martinez, head of complaint intake at the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice.

John Goldberg, a former Illinois medical prosecutor who sought disciplinary action against Jafari, agrees with that thinking.

"It simply doesn't make sense for someone to be on the sex offender registry and still be practicing medicine," said Goldberg, who retired in 2002.

If a doctor is found guilty of misdemeanor sexual abuse of a patient, as was the case with Jafari, the department must prove the doctor engaged in "dishonorable, unethical or unprofessional conduct" or violated another part of the act in order to seek sanctions.

A jury found Jafari guilty of sexually abusing a Villa Park woman who had sought a bikini-line laser treatment at his Oak Brook Surgical and Laser Center.

During a follow-up session, Jafari asked the 23-year-old to remove her bikini bottom, then stroked her genitals, inner thighs and stomach with his bare hand, court records show. When she felt his finger or the razor press against her genitals, she began to cry and told him she felt uncomfortable.

"He touched me. He touched me where he wasn't supposed to touch me," she said through tears to her father, who took her to the Oak Brook Police Department to make a report, records show.

A woman who worked at the Oak Brook center testified in court that Jafari touched her in a similar fashion during a similar treatment -- prompting her to quit.

Jafari, who was sentenced to 24 months of sex offender probation, denied the allegations even after the conviction was upheld by an appeals court.

When the department filed a formal complaint against Jafari in October 2001, citing the criminal outcome, he argued that the conviction was not grounds for discipline.

An administrative judge overruled his motions and moved forward with plans for a formal hearing.

But just as the hearing was about to take place in 2003, Jafari participated in a private conference with Dr. Allan Bennett, a member of the medical disciplinary board, who concluded Jafari was credible and that the case should be closed.

The full board agreed that the only necessary move was to tell Jafari to always have a chaperone present when examining a female patient.

Bennett could not recall the case.

"I can assure you that, at least when I was on the board, every effort was made to keep sexual offenders from practicing," he said. "If that wasn't done, then I can only assume that the medical disciplinary board disagreed with the court."

Jafari said it was the right decision.

"It is important to understand that what could be perceived as an act of sexual misconduct by a non-medical person is in fact a routine, normal and medically necessary procedure for a physician," Jafari said in a written response to questions from a Tribune reporter.

When the Lemont woman who researched Jafari's name complained to state regulators, an investigator told her that normally many victims come forward after news coverage of a doctor's wrongdoing and that only a few presented fresh evidence after Jafari's conviction, she said.

"I told him it was upsetting that this doctor was in my surgical suite without my permission or knowledge all the while being a convicted sex offender," she replied, according to notes she took of her conversation. "The investigator said, 'You didn't know anything about any of the other people in the room.' "

Jafari, 66, said in a phone interview that he operates his own private surgical practice in Berwyn and also works at Grand Avenue Surgical Center in Chicago.

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Claimed patients made up allegations

Venkatesan Deenadayalu, a doctor from the western suburbs who goes by the name Deen Venkatesan, had his physician's license suspended for a minimum of three years after he was convicted in November 2000 of misdemeanor sexual abuse and battery of a Lisle woman.

The woman was referred to him when she went to Northern American Emergency Medical Center, a walk-in clinic in Downers Grove, seeking treatment for a severe headache.

When they were alone in an exam room, according to court records, he rubbed his groin against her leg, tried to touch her breasts and kissed her on the lips. She immediately told her boyfriend and reported the incident to the Downers Grove Police Department, records show.

Two other former patients of Deenadayalu testified against him in court. One woman told police that Deenadayalu rubbed her inappropriately when she sought treatment for abdominal pain. A second woman told police he touched her breasts, exposed himself and stroked her inappropriately.

Deenadayalu, who was sentenced to two years of sex-offender probation, has claimed the patients made up the allegations after he refused to prescribe drugs for them. He continued to dispute the criminal sentence after an appeals court upheld his conviction.

When the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation filed a complaint against him, Deenadayalu claimed the misdemeanor conviction was not grounds for medical discipline. He told the department he had taken steps to ensure that he was fit to practice, such as participating in a class on boundaries and undergoing supervision by the Illinois Professionals Health Program, which monitors troubled doctors.

Dr. Stafford Henry, who had evaluated Deenadayalu for the program, testified at the medical disciplinary hearing that he had uncovered no verified instances of sexual misconduct in the workplace and that Deenadayalu could safely practice if properly monitored.

At the hearing, John Goldberg, then the department's chief of medical prosecutions, challenged those claims, pointing out that Henry never talked to the three female patients who testified against him in criminal court or to the police or prosecutor involved in the case.

"How many times does a doctor have to be convicted of committing sex crimes on patients before there is verified instances of sexual misconduct?" Goldberg said, according to a transcript of the hearing.

After some back and forth, Henry replied: "I don't think there is a number, but I would like to explain what I mean by 'verified.' That being a conviction is not tantamount to something necessarily happening."

In his closing remarks, Goldberg said, "I would not want to think that it was possible that my mother, my wife or my daughter would be examined by a convicted sex offender. (Deenadayalu) is not allowed by law to drive a school bus. The question for this board to decide is whether he will be allowed to treat the female population of the state of Illinois."

The hearing resulted in a decision that Deenadayalu would be permitted to continue practicing after a minimum three-year suspension of his license.

In February 2008, the medical disciplinary board and director of the division of regulation agreed to reinstate his license and place him on probation -- despite the argument of a department attorney that Deenadayalu "had failed to present sufficient evidence regarding his rehabilitation."

Deenadayalu never admitted guilt at that hearing but said he learned through counseling that he had suffered from distorted views of women that had since been corrected.

Deenadayalu, 64, is practicing at Physicians Care Services in Tinley Park, according to a probation report.

When a Tribune reporter reached him by phone, he declined to answer questions, saying he was busy with patients.

The victim in the sexual abuse and battery conviction said she was never contacted by the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation about her experiences with Deenadayalu. The Tribune does not identify sex-crime victims without their permission.

"I don't think he should be practicing at all," the woman said. "He never acknowledged what he did."

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In therapy, calls his risk 'minimal'

John Bogen, of Elk Grove Village, said he might reapply for his license in March 2012 after his minimum four-year suspension.

The department disciplined him after he was convicted in Kane County of sexually abusing his friend's 6- and 8-year-old daughters.

The family practice physician, who worked for the Bonaventure Medical Group affiliated with Alexian Brothers Medical Center, pleaded guilty to the felony charges and is serving four years of sex-offender probation.

Bogen, 40, acknowledged wrongdoing during his medical disciplinary hearing but claimed that psychological treatment had made it mostly safe for him to practice medicine again.

"Sex offenders always have the capability of reoffending," Bogen said during the hearing, according to a transcript. "I think that that risk is minimal so long as I continue therapy."

Bogen's therapist backed up this assertion, adding that he had treated six sex-offending doctors over 14 years.

The medical disciplinary board and director of the division of regulation agreed that at the end of his minimum four-year suspension, Bogen could reapply on the condition that he has successfully completed his sex-offender probation. At that time, the board will decide whether his return to practice is appropriate, and if so, what conditions or restrictions should be placed on his license.

Bogen, who has been doing tax work, said in an interview that he never engaged in sexual misconduct with his patients because his abuse was "compartmentalized." At the same time, he said, he recognized that it might be best for him to treat only adults, should he return to the medical field.

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Convicted of sex abuse in Israel

Zohar Scott Mor, of Richmond, became eligible to reapply for his chiropractor license in December following a minimum two-year suspension.

The professional regulation department disciplined Mor in 2007 after he was convicted of sexually abusing a 7-year-old girl while living in Israel. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Mor, who was acquainted with the girl's family, on several occasions placed her on his lap, reached into her pants and touched her, court records show. Originally charged with sexual assault, he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge.

The department also pointed to allegations of sexual misconduct made by two of his former patients to the Spring Grove Police Department.

One woman told police that Mor fondled her breasts on multiple occasions at his office in Spring Grove. Another woman alleged Mor pulled down her gown and fondled her breasts during a visit to his practice, according to state records.

Mor never underwent an administrative hearing at the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Instead, his attorney negotiated privately with the department's attorney.

A consent order allowed Mor to reapply for his license after finishing his criminal sentence in Israel, passing a special-purposes exam for chiropractors, completing any outstanding continuing medical exams and submitting to an evaluation conducted by a board-certified psychiatrist.

Reached by phone at his home in Richmond, Mor said he had no comment on the Israeli conviction or the allegations of sexual misconduct made by patients. He said he would not seek restoration of his license.

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'Dishonorable, unethical conduct'

Robert Hughes, who practiced family medicine in Buffalo Grove, saw his license suspended for a minimum of five years after being convicted in 2008 of felony possession of child pornography and misdemeanor distribution of a controlled substance.

The doctor, who struck a plea agreement with the Cook County prosecutor, was originally charged with manufacturing child pornography, criminal sexual assault and child endangerment.

Hughes was accused of performing oral sex on a 17-year-old girl, placing his finger inside her, making a video of her dancing in her underwear for money, providing her with sample doses of prescription drugs and observing her using marijuana, cocaine and heroin at his Wilmette residence, according to police and court records. He allegedly prescribed drugs to another woman. Neither female was a patient.

In seeking an emergency suspension of his license in March 2008, the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation said the allegations of sexual misconduct were proof of "dishonorable, unethical or unprofessional conduct" and that he had violated the Medical Practice Act by administering drugs for a purpose that was not medically accepted.

After Hughes was convicted, the department signed a consent agreement that allowed him to reapply for his license in 2013 if he successfully completes his felony probation, passes a medical exam, submits to a drug screening and undergoes a psychiatric evaluation.

Hughes, 51, did not respond to several phone calls seeking comment.

Conviction doesn't void license forever

These are the other doctors convicted of sex crimes who have not permanently lost their Illinois medical licenses, according to state records:

*In 1995, Joseph Cichon's license was indefinitely revoked after he was convicted in La Salle County of felony sexual abuse and sexual assault of child patients and manufacturing child pornography of them.

*In 2002, Phillip Lasky's license was indefinitely suspended after he was convicted in Cook County of felony sexual abuse of a patient.

*In 2003, Rezso Spruch's license was revoked for an indefinite time period after he was convicted of misdemeanor sexual abuse of two patients in Vermilion County.

*In 2003, Daniel Brem's license was indefinitely suspended after he was convicted in Knox County of felony criminal sexual abuse of a 10-year-old.

*In 2004, Stephen Adler's license was indefinitely suspended after he was convicted in DuPage County of indecent solicitation of a child.

*In 2005, Gary Almy's license was indefinitely suspended after he was convicted in Lake County of felony sexual abuse of a 13-year-old.

*In 2005, Morris McCall's license was indefinitely suspended for a minimum of five years after he was convicted in White County of felony sexual assault and felony sexual abuse of a 13-year-old.

*In 2006, David Bednarski's chiropractor license was indefinitely suspended after he was convicted in Cook County of misdemeanor sexual abuse of a patient.

*In 2009, Mark Stephen Lubinsky's license was indefinitely revoked after he was convicted in Wisconsin of possession of child pornography.

*In February 2010, the department began additional disciplinary proceedings against Michael Butt after he was convicted in Oklahoma of sexual abuse of a teenager and a 7-year-old. His license was already suspended for failure to pay taxes.

*In April 2010, Angel Chire's license was indefinitely suspended for a minimum of two years after he was convicted in California of felony sexual abuse of a young relative.